Jharkhand MLAs get 80 percent hike in salary
The Jharkhand cabinet on Tuesday gave itself a raise, with MLAs getting a hike of 80.06 per cent over existing monthly salaries.
Cabinet Secretary (Temporary charge) SK Satpathy said the hike was approved as the last revision was made almost five years back. It was in fact made in September, 2011; before that, there was a hike in December 2007 – that 15 per cent hike was the fourth such revision in seven years.
MLAs got the best deal on Tuesday: the hike means their total monthly salaries go up to Rs. 2,10,333 from Rs. 1,16,833. While basic pay has been increased only marginally – from Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 30,000 monthly for MLAs – allowances have shot through the roof across the board and stand at Rs. 21,64,000 from Rs. 11,62,000 annually for legislators.
A committee formed by Assembly Speaker Dinesh Oraon made the recommendations accepted by the cabinet. Government sources said the cabinet had to bring down a number of recommendations: the committee had suggested a Rs. 5 lakh annual travel allowance for MLAs – not included in salary calculations – but the cabinet chose to fix it at Rs. 3 lakhs.
The Leader of the Opposition got a better appraisal than the Chief Minister himself – Hemant Soren will see a 75.09 percent hike in pay while Raghubar Das will see only a 38.14 increase monthly. Das’ salary comprises a basic monthly pay of Rs. 60,000 and an annual allowance component of Rs. 24,60,000.
Jharkhand’s ministers will take home Rs. 2,30,000 monthly – a 38.14 per cent hike. The Speaker will now be paid as much as ministers; he gets a 59.17 per cent hike.
In comparison to Jharkhand, which consistently figures in the lower rung of human development indicators in the country, the Punjab CM has a basic pay of Rs. 1,00,000 while MLAs get Rs. 25,000 monthly. All MLAs get an allowance of Rs. 1,11,500, excluding a Rs. 3 lakh annual travel allowance.
The Karnataka CM and Speaker take home Rs. 50,000 basic pay. They get Rs. 3 lakh annually as the sumptuary allowance in addition to a monthly dole of 1,000 litres of fuel, Rs. 40,000 towards HRA and Rs. 20,000 for maintenance.
Haryana MLAs get Rs. 30,000 as basic pay monthly. In addition, they take home Rs. 1,20,000 in monthly allowances. Tamil Nadu pays a total of Rs. 55,000 to its MLAs monthly, including a basic pay of Rs. 8,000.
Source:: Indian Express
